Shatner and Khan could be in Star Trek 2

JJ Abrams has been chatting about all the possibilities his new Star Trek universe offers, including returning characters [possible spoilers]

As the new movie completely reboots the series and sets Star Trek off in a new alternate reality, we have to wonder whether this means Kirk won't die when he did and he and Khan won't clash like the did. And JJ Abrams has been asked these questions by others, including the MTV movies blog , where he talked openly about some of the ideas being mooted for more films in the series:

"The fun of this is that the destiny of these characters is in their hands — it's not constrained by the pre-existing films or TV series," Abrams told MTV. "Believe me, whether it's William Shatner or Khan ... it would be ridiculous to not be open to those ideas."

Writer and producers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman have already said they'd like to bring Khan back into the storyline in future. "It'll be fun to hear what Alex and Bob are thinking about Khan," Abrams said. "The fun of this timeline is arguing that different stories, with the same characters, could be equally if not more compelling than what's been told before... While their history may not be exactly as people are familiar with, I would argue that a person's character is what it is. Certain people are destined to cross paths and come together, and Khan is out there ... even if he doesn't have the same issues."

And it occurs to many that using some time travel shenanigans it's now entirely possible to bring William Shatner into a story, since in this reality he need not necessarily die on Veridian III while fighting Soran. Kirk could grow up and live a long and happy life, sending frequent messages into the past or being seen in flash forward.